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“I can repair the formation.” Lu Yun’s heart spasmed with pity when he took in the sights as Yuan Yi dragged him into the city. The city walls were falling to pieces; its inhabitants consumed grass and tree roots for sustenance.
He could collect goodwill as he possessed the Karmic Tree and use goodwill for cultivation. Thus, acts of service and kindness had long become one of his habits. That was likely why people called him a saint.
He just couldn’t help himself when he saw the distressing sights around him.
I have to keep it in… I have to keep it in. I left the Karmic Tree in another world, so I won’t receive any karma if I do good deeds here. Mm, it’s not like I have the effort to spare for others when I can’t be sure if I’ll even be alive to see nightfall. Those ghost zombies could eat me at any time.
But he could repair the worn down formation in poor condition—for himself, if not for others.
Who knew if this formation could survive another night? He would die all the same if the ghost zombies shattered the formation and breached the city’s defenses. Therefore, he started shouting his objections.
His yells broke through the lifeless air, particularly ear-piercing in the wooden atmosphere. Many of those repairing the city walls or foraging for food paused, turning blank stares at the young man being dragged into the city.
There were humans and other races among them, with no such thing as a harmonious or otherwise relationship between them. Dead bodies—if not killed by the ghost zombies—were food.
In their eyes, the guardian would also be food after she died.
If she didn’t die to the ghost zombies.
Eating the living wasn’t permitted—that was one of Yuan Yi’s rules. Whoever dared cannibalize the living would die.
“You can repair the formation?” Yuan Yi stopped and looked back with surprise. “Didn’t you hear me? Jingzhou City is out of origin stones.”
Origin stones were the crystallizations of qi in this world and its cultivation resource. They were similar to the immortal crystals of the world of immortals. But with the death of this world, its origin stones dried up. Every stone was exceptionally precious and well hidden. No one would bear to use one on a formation.
As for Yuan Yi… she had no origin stones. Hers had long become part of the formation’s foundations. The city’s defensive formation teetered on the edge of collapse not only because of the damage inflicted to it, but also because it’d nearly consumed its store of origin stones.
“What do you need origin stones for?” Lu Yun shook his head to clear it. He knew what origin stones the moment they were mentioned, but he was a feng shui master. Feng shui masters didn’t need origin stones to set up a killing formation.
Formations and feng shui were two sides of the same coin. When first arriving at the world of immortals, he’d utilized his knowledge of feng shui to become a formation expert.
Feng shui layouts utilized the power of heaven and earth, the traces of wind passing and water flowing. It didn’t require any supplemental reinforcement from outside forces.
In Lu Yun’s assessment, the underlying feng shui layout had been completely ruined, despite the formation still standing. At the same time, the feng shui layout that the formation corresponded to was a simple layout that gathered qi. It facilitated happiness and prosperity for its denizens. Given that corpses littered the ramshackle streets, the layout was naturally no more.
“You can set up a formation without origin stones?” Yuan Yi solemnly regarded Lu Yun. “Feng… shui?”
“You know it?” Lu Yun smiled. No one had known what feng shui was when he arrived at the world of immortals, but Yuan Yi of reality had immediately guessed it.
“The world is dead.” She looked up at the grayish-yellow sky. “Feng shui borrows the strength of heaven and earth. If the world is dead, then so is the heaven and earth. Feng shui is useless.”
She continued dragging him into the depths of the city.
“If heaven and earth are dead, why are the people still alive?” Lu Yun frowned.
“Alive? Do you think this is living?” Yuan Yi snorted with laughter. “They are wheezing for breath. Death is but a matter of time. It is our deepest instinct that forces us to struggle before it comes for us.
“What do you think those ghost zombies are? Living beings turn into ghosts and corpses when they die. When those die, they further turn into ghost zombies.
“Forget about all this, there’s no point,” Yuan Yi said quietly. “In this world, we struggle for every day we can. I’m going to heal your injuries first, we can discuss everything else later.”
“Why did you save me?” asked a baffled Lu Yun. “Because I was staring off into space next to the pit?”
“You are a cultivator and each cultivator is very precious in this world. I’ll live a bit longer with you around.”
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Lu Yun: ……
Yuan Yi lived in a shabby house. There was nothing in it apart from wooden bed slats and some flora. The house swayed with the wind, looking like it would collapse at any second. The herbs she used on Lu Yun were items of extreme yin and evil that would grow only in the pit of corpses.
They were exceedingly useful, however.
“The world is alive, it isn’t dead yet,” Lu Yun said as he watched his wounds close. “A dead world would not nurture these things.”
He regarded a small red flower that glowed with a clear hue. It’d taken root on a charred corpse. Yuan Yi had dug it out of the pit and brought it back with them when the fires couldn’t destroy the flower.
“This grew out of a cultivator’s corpse, not the world,” she explained seriously. “The cultivator’s vitality was yet to be fully consumed when the ghost zombies killed them, so this flower grew from it.
“It is a continuation of their life. If I die to them and my body is burned, I’ll probably give rise to these things too.”
Lu Yun fell silent.
“Give it up, this world is dead.” There was no emotion in Yuan Yi’s voice. “All of our efforts are but the instincts of living beings. A futile effort to live a bit longer. We are all meant to die, so every moment longer we live is good.”
“Instinct?” Lu Yun fell silent again. Was this the reality on the other side of the nothing? Was this Mo Yi, God, and the Dao King’s home?
Was this the world that the Divine Temple of Nothing and all of the gods pinned their hopes on? Was this where the way to end the great destruction could be found?
It seemed more like reality was undergoing its own, true devastation.
“I… still don’t want to accept things just like this.” Lu Yun shook his head again. “Is this really the hope of all life?”
“The hope of all life?” Yuan Yi blinked. “There is no hope here, just despair.”
“Then why have I come here? By pure coincidence?” Lu Yun murmured to himself.
It was no coincidence. God had used a variety of methods to help him comprehend civilization and facilitate a delicate balance between civilization and reincarnation. He then self detonated to blast a hole through the barrier of nothing, sending Lu Yun here.
Was it only to let him see a reality devoid of hope?
Lu Yun was no fool. As his thoughts cleared and he realized where he was, he understood God’s intentions and painstaking efforts.
God wasn’t a traitor. He’d used the most extreme method possible to have Lu Yun comprehend civilization and reincarnation, then forcefully sent him here. The young man hadn’t been willing to come, at least not now. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to hate God.
Was it worth it?
God seemed to think so.